Ashikabi and Sekirei, Servant and Master
by Forest Dragon Slayer 2
Summary: Thanks to a certain bloodsucker, Shirou's been thrust into another war within another dimension. Just one with 108 servant-like beings which primarily consist of beautiful women. Amidst it all, he ends up changing the fate of a certain veiled Sekirei. What will become of them? Read and see!
1. Chapter 1

**Hello out there Fanfiction world! On the slim chance you know who I am from my work from many years ago, you're probably wondering what the heck I'm doing back here on this site after disappearing for who knows how long or perhaps why I all of a sudden went silent. Though the majority of you probably won't care hahaha. For that reason, I'll keep it short. I ended up stopping because life kept getting in my way and I'm back again because I'm taking part in a fanfic writing competition hosted by Alex Kellar on deviant art. This son of a gun is a great artist and the prize for the top 3 fanfics will get a scene from the story drawn by him which is why I'm taking part besides being bored.**

 **To briefly explain the contest, we take Mr. Shirou "People Die if they are Killed" Emiya (or any of his other versions like Archer) and throw him into another universe and have him meet a character from Alex's list before the event that would solidify their role in the story. Like Emerald from RWBY before she meets Cinder or Akeno from High School DxD before she meets Rias. The girl of my choice for this competition is Uzume from Sekirei starting from before she meets Chiho. As I am writing this, I am not sure whether I'll have Chiho still play a role in this or not. I may figure it out while I'm writing this chapter for all I know but I still have yet to decide.**

 **I know that this author's note is dragging on a little and most of you probably skipped over it to start reading the story but I wanted to explain a little about this story's Shirou. This version of him is kind of a combination of him from the Heaven's Feel route and Unlimited Blade Works route. To briefly summarize him, he fought Archer, got Archer's arm at some point later on after losing his own, dealt with Sakura's darkness stuff, fought Gilgamesh, and ended up going to the Clock Tower with Rin and maybe Sakura after high school. While he has forsaken his ideal to be a hero for the most part, it's not entirely gone. Like he will almost always prioritize his loved ones but he still holds onto that sliver of his ideal that wanting to help somebody by itself is never wrong. Honestly, even if I just went full on Heaven's Feel, I would think Shirou wouldn't have fully gotten rid of the ideal as it's a core part of his being and he'd probably still help somebody in trouble right in front of him. I just wanted UBW in the mix mainly because HF Shirou has the least knowledge of magecraft of the three routes without Archer's arm. Well, that's the basic idea in my head for him anyway. It may or may not slightly change as I write this.**

 **Anyway….I can't think of anything else to say though future me might think otherwise when I'm done with this chapter so let's get this started!**

 **I don't own the Fate series or Sekirei. They are owned by TYPE-MOON and Sakurako Gokurakuin respectively.**

* * *

A barren wasteland that used to be a lush grassland surrounded a man with tan skin and white hair. The cause of it all, a dead apostle lay decimated at his feet with black keys and several swords imbedded in its remains which were already beginning to turn to ash. This one had been using the citizens of a nearby city as lab rats for his experiments and he, Rin and Sakura were around at the time to find precious stones for Rin's magic. Shirou had sent the two women out of there so he could fight it without having to worry about them. It had been a long and hard battle as expected when dealing with the evil vampires and if he didn't have the powers of a heroic spirit, he probably would have lost his life. The sound of a person clapping broke him out of his thoughts about the fight.

"Not too bad, though you had to unseal that arm you managed to prevail over one of my kin. As expected of the apprentice of my apprentice." An old man walked up to the tan swordsman and looked him over. "Now that I see it again, you really do look like Archer, Shirou-kun." He said with a small smirk which only resulted with a sigh of annoyance from the swordsman.

"What do you want now Zelretch?" Shirou asked with Archer's voice. Not too long after, his body had begun to turn back to his regular self. His skin was pale once more and his hair had returned to its red color albeit with a few strands of silver. "I'm not exactly in the mood for any of your pranks."

"Disappointed that you didn't get to cap it all off with a kiss from the girls for your heroic deeds before you ride off into the sunset?" Zelretch's little joke was rewarded with a traced blade to the face that the wizard easily dodged. This had become a regular thing between them. Shirou using a blade to shoo him away and Zelretch simply evading it to annoy him. "Rin-chan had asked me to check on you because, and I quote 'That damn idiot will probably almost get himself killed and then use one of those seals again.'. It appears she was right from the looks of things" While Shirou didn't appear to have any serious injuries that needed to be attended to, he actually looked perfectly fine, one of the three black command spells on his right arm had faded from being used.

"It was necessary." Shirou replied curtly. Though he respected the man to some degree due to his status as a practitioner of true magic, he also didn't want to deal with him more than necessary lest risk his sanity.

"Even so, I would think Rin and Sakura would prefer having you rather than having Archer around." Zelretch said as he grabbed Shirou's right arm and replaced the used up command seal. "Though I can replace these artificial deadshift command spells, the seal on Archer's arm grows ever so slightly weaker each time. The strands of hair going white on your head are a testament to that."

"Even so, if it means I could protect those I care about, I don't care what happens to me." Shirou said with determination.

"You should be glad Rin wasn't here or she'd probably Gandr your ass and then she'd set Sakura on you." Zelretch said with a chuckle. Just because they couldn't summon reality marbles like Shirou could doesn't mean they didn't have their own ways of instilling fear in their man. Even Shirou couldn't help but shudder a little internally as he remembered the last time he did something stupid and ended up almost dead for them. "As long as you understand." Zelretch said with another smirk. It was then he remembered the other reason he came. "Ah, Shirou-kun, there was one more thing."

"What?" The moment after he asked that, he began to feel all queasy. "Oh for the love of the Root, again!?"

"Rin and Luvia needed some more practice so you'll be their target like usual. Enjoy the new universe!" Zelretch said almost cheerfully. "With luck, they'll probably figure it out and get you back before you die of old age."

"Fuck…. You….." Was all Shirou could muster before blacking out.

* * *

 _Just how did I end up in this mess? Oh yeah...Zelretch…._ Shirou thought to himself in irritation as he remembered how he had been thrown into a random parallel universe (again, might he add) as a homework assignment for Rin and Luvia who were to locate and bring him back.

 _You know, a little warning would have been helpful before you send me off to who knows where._ Shirou was probably one of the most patient people you could meet and yet said patience was beginning to wane when it came to the old bloodsucker who did as he pleased. It didn't matter if the vampire managed to keep Archer's arm from breaking down his body. "Speaking of which, just where am I this time?" He appeared to be in some sort of supply closet if the cleaning supplies were any indication but that didn't tell him anything about his current situation. This is where he would have to make use of his magecraft.

"Trace on" Shirou chanted the aria as he touched the floor and used Structural Analysis to scan the building he was in. The process admittedly took longer than usual because he was apparently in a skyscraper but at least he had some idea as to where he could escape from. He took the hood of his sweatshirt and used it to at least partially hide his face. His Structural Analysis had found that there were security cameras throughout the building and it'd be bad if they saw his face if things got ugly. After a quick peek outside the door to make sure nobody was coming his way, he began to run towards the nearest exit he could safely jump out from, avoiding as many cameras as he could.

 _*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*_

It wasn't even five minutes after starting before the alarm blared throughout the building, making the magus tense up. At first, Shirou was sure that he would have to engage in combat but it never came. No humans, no robots, no hellspawn, nothing. He was almost put off by the _lack_ of things trying to kill him.

"CAPTURE TARGETS ARE SEKIREI NUMBER 2 MATSU AND NUMBER 10 UZUME!"

 _Well, that explains some things though I don't know why an alarm was raised if they're just chasing after birds.* I suppose it's a code for something else._ Shirou thought to himself with slight confusion. At this point, he decided to just run down the halls at full speed and not worry about the cameras. If these wagtails were as important as the announcement seemed to make them, they'd be paying close attention to the footage from the cameras and find him anyway. Even if he traced Carnwennan, Arturia's dagger that helped conceal his presence, it only worked on living things who weren't aware he was there in the first place so it was useless.

"They went this way!" Shirou heard voices and footsteps coming from the corridor up ahead, prompting him to duck behind the corner and into the shadows. They ended up running past where he was and didn't take notice of him.

"Hehehe, suckers." A feminine voice laced with mischief broke the silence once the pursuers had left. Shirou immediately looked to his right and then to his left but found nobody on either. He only looked up when he heard rustling coming from the air vents. It opened up and out came two rather well-endowed women to his surprise. The surprise was more because of how scantily clad they were though rather than coming out of nowhere. One of them was wearing glasses and something resembling a rather revealing cheongsam. The other was only wearing the bare minimum to cover herself and a long white veil.

"Um, hi?" It appeared the surprise was mutual as shown from the voice of the veiled one and neither side moved for a bit. "Ehehe, you don't look like somebody from MBI so mind just keeping quiet about all this? Ah right, the escape. We gotta move Matsu!" They left as fast as they came, the veiled one dragging along the one dubbed Matsu. The mentioned name rang a bell for Shirou which got him following after the two women.

"Your name is Matsu, right? Does that mean you're the one these people after?" Shirou asked for confirmation. "And I suppose that makes you Uzume." He said, turning to the other girl. _I thought as much. So these are the Sekirei. What are they? They look human and they even kinda smell like one. But there's just that slight difference that I can't put my finger on..._

"Yeah, that'd be us." The veiled woman said briefly in response. "What about you then? You've been sneaking around here like us."

"Just call me Archer for now. I'm also just trying to get out of here." Shirou replied in a curt tone that suggested that they could continue this conversation later and _not_ during their escape. He also didn't want to use his real name with the cameras possibly recording audio. Dealing with the magus community for at least two years made him at least this cautious."Strange that we haven't run into anyone yet though."

"I hacked into the security system and made them think we're in a different location. Though that probably won't last long as I'm no longer connected to it." Matsu said, paying more attention to the map shown on her tablet which had a rendezvous point marked on it. "Ah, Uzume-tan, turn right here." It was then the scent of blood and death reached Shirou's nose, making him instinctively grab Uzume by the shoulder and pull her back. At the same time, a sword swung down where Uzume had been previously standing.

"Trace on!" Shirou reached into the back of his sweatshirt and materialized his trusty pair of married blades to parry the next attack while giving the illusion of the blades being on his person. _Me and my E rank luck…_ Shirou couldn't help but sigh in his mind as he found himself facing a woman with a grey ponytail and a nodachi that just emanated bloodlust. If the third rate magus had remained as his idealistic self, he'd probably be unable to handle what he saw as he added the sword to his reality marble. This woman had killed so many people...and she enjoyed it. While it didn't bother his current self, it still managed to leave a bad taste in his mouth and put him on guard with Kanshou and Bakuya raised in a defensive stance.

"Oh? I didn't realize those two had any other help." The woman said, more amusement than surprise in her tone. "Well, no matter. Not like one piece of trash will make any difference. At the very least, try not to die too quickly. That would be too boring." A sadistic smirk appeared on her face as she got into a stance. Shirou's mind immediately went into his battle state, his senses going into overdrive so he could fight the one before him.

"I, Number 10, Uzume will fight you!" The veiled Sekirei had stepped out in front of Shirou, throwing the magus off slightly. Before he could protest, the one with a blade seemed to agree albeit half-heartedly.

"Alright, this'll be a nice warm up. Number 4, Karasuba." The one dubbed Karasuba said this with her blade poised to cut down the Sekirei before her. Uzume shaped her veil into a spear and charged at Karasuba with it, only for the attack to be easily deflected by Karasuba's blade in an almost mocking fashion. It was as if she was merely playing with Uzume who was seriously trying to take her down. Shirou was about to go up front and join the fray himself but Matsu put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"You're a human right Archer-tan?" Matsu said in a hushed yet serious tone. "There aren't many male Sekirei in the first place and none of them have your appearance or name though I doubt that's your real name anyway."

 _Well, that confirms they're not human at least…._ Shirou couldn't help but note despite the situation.

"Sekirei are way stronger than humans and that one, Karasuba is one of the strongest among us. There's no way you could take her on."

"If the sword lady is one of the strongest, isn't Uzume in trouble then?" Shirou pointed out. "Also, I don't think her cloth will have much in the way of blade defense." _It doesn't help that her outfit exposes so much skin._ That last bit was omitted as he got back into his stance and observed the battle for his chance to strike.

"Even if you're…" Matsu didn't get to finish her sentence before Shirou threw the sword in his left hand like a boomerang, forcing the two combatants apart lest they get cut by the fast spinning projectile.

"Hey! What gives!?" Uzume exclaimed from shock and slight annoyance. However, Shirou ignored the outcry as he charged in. He lowered his stance as he ran, his body nearly scraping the floor as he glided in. Right before he reached his opponent, he twisted his body and swung the sword in his right hand upwards to the left. Karasuba had swung downward to block the attack and the clash let loose a burst of sparks. Shirou made use of the momentum of the attack to roll around, catching the sword he had thrown and attacked Karasuba with simultaneous vertical and diagonal slashes from opposite sides. Rather than land the hit or even be blocked by the woman's blade, he hit nothing but air.

"Eh?" Shirou couldn't help but let out a surprised sound due to the result of his assault before steeling himself once more and reanalyzing his situation. It appeared that he and the scantily clad woman fighting alongside him had the same idea. To try to keep the other out of danger, something that ironically made the situation worse for both of them as they kept getting in each other's way. All the while, Karasuba just found the situation amusing if anything as the pair tried and failed to land a hit on her due to them hindering the other.

"Archer, just get out of here!"

"Uzume, take Matsu and run!"

The two said that at the same time before looking at each other and then back to Karasuba.

"I'll draw her away so use the opening to take Matsu to the designated point!"

"She's a close-range fighter, I should be the one to hold her off! It'd be better for you to support me from mid-range before retreating!"

Once again the two had butt heads from their conflicting good intentions and they began to bicker. Karasuba was amused by this at first so she halted her attack to watch but it had gotten a little old as it went on.

"You two done with your lover's spat yet? As amusing as you two are, I have a job to do and that includes capturing you all if I remember to not kill you." Karasuba said with a smirk. Though her stance was relaxed, it still emanated blood lust which put Shirou and Uzume back on edge. Before any further arguments could be made, Shirou stepped in front of Uzume as if to shield her and began to ponder the situation.

 _With all the security cameras around, I'm a bit reluctant to use any magecraft beyond Reinforcement but I think I need to use some to get through this._ Shirou thought to himself as he began to formulate the plan. He just needed a single moment where he didn't have to deal with Karasuba trying to decapitate or dismember him. "Uzume, I'll be needing your help. Can you keep her busy when her attention is on me?" Shirou whispered to the woman behind him.

"I could, if only for like half a second before she breaks free." Uzume said in response. Karasuba was one of the strongest Sekirei out there after all and on top of that, she had an Ashikabi while she didn't. She was surprised that weren't defeated yet, even if Karasuba was going easy on them.

"That'll be enough." Shirou said, walking forward before another word could be exchanged. Shirou and Karasuba slowly circled each other, eyes fixed on each other. Shirou held the married blades at his sides, arms seemingly lax. It was an illusion that feigned weakness when he was in actuality ready to strike. Karasuba had decided to strike first and quickly closed the distance between them. Shirou was forced to bring both blades up to block the powerful downward swing that had enough force to potentially break his arms if not for Reinforcement. The blow came as a shock to Shirou as the amount of power within reminded him more of a Servant.

 _What are these Sekirei? A type of homunculus? Altered humans? They're certainly nothing to scoff at if they can match a Servant._ Shirou thought to himself as he parried another slash with Kanshou before striking back with Bakuya only for his own attack to be blocked. In time, he gradually became more proficient with Archer's almost suicidal style but hadn't reached the level of being able to effectively attack like this. Not that it would've helped much with the ease the swordswoman showed in blocking his attacks. It reminded him of the brief time he spent being beaten by his former Servant in the dojo. _This lady could probably match Saber in swordsmanship…_ He couldn't help but think to himself.

Karasuba couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at how the man was positioned. There were so many openings she could exploit, some even leading to his vitals. Her instincts as a swordswoman compelled her body to take advantage of them, only for her blade to be knocked aside. The standstill that arose from it began to irritate her. Sure, she couldn't go all out because they were indoors and she didn't want the building to collapse but she should've been able to handle a normal human. All the more reason for her surprise when he actually ended up taking first blood with a light cut to her arm.

"Uzume, now!" Shirou's shout prompted Uzume to charge in and take his place, her veil having taken the shape of a spear. As Karasuba had been almost completely focused on trying to break through Shirou's defense, she almost forgot about the other combat ready Sekirei and barely blocked the incoming attack. Shirou had stepped back, readying his next attack. "Trace….Overedge"

In the few seconds that she took her eyes off of him because of Uzume, he did something that caused Karasuba's instincts to kick in once she picked up on those words. After deflecting Uzume's attack one more time, she faced Shirou's attack head on, choosing to use more of her strength this time. The overhead cut from the katana met the cross slash of the dual blades and for a moment, she thought she saw the swords become a pair of sharp wings.

 _CRACK_

Upon impact, all three blades had shattered, leaving only the handles. As well forged as Karasuba's sword was, it was no match for a Noble Phantasm overflowing to burst with magic power. With Karasuba effectively disarmed, Shirou couldn't waste the opening in front of him and he raised his left fist for a punch. He couldn't make full use of its power normally as it had been sealed. However, he could use a large portion of it in short bursts by channeling power to Archer's arm. And a punch to the face that was at least ten times stronger than a human's wasn't anything to sneeze at. Shirou had sent Karasuba flying a few feet before landing on her butt, the man immediately tracing two black keys and threw it at her shadow.

"Come on, we gotta move. That won't keep her there forever." Shirou said to the two Sekirei. Karasuba had already begun to get back on her feet albeit with great difficulty. Shirou had thought that two of the shadow pinning keys would have been enough to keep her down but he had apparently misjudged how strong the swordswoman and Sekirei in general were. It was still enough to keep her there long enough for them to escape.

"Archer….you got wounded." Uzume said with a worried expression on her face as she pointed to a cut going from his right shoulder to his chest. Shirou looked down and was shocked by the wound he had failed to notice in the heat of battle. The wound itself was not that big of a deal and was just slightly worse than a long paper cut that would heal by tomorrow at worst. It was the fact that Karasuba had managed to cut through his clothes which had been reinforced by runes with nothing more than a broken blade and presumably wind pressure.

 _What the heck is going on here? What are these Sekirei?_ Once again, Shirou had posed the question to himself before dismissing it as now was not the time. He could get his answers later from the Sekirei with him once they escaped. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. For now, we should probably head to that rendezvous point you mentioned earlier." The two Sekirei nodded in response before Matsu began to lead the way.

"By the way, Archer-tan, those blades that you threw. I don't know how they work but why didn't you use them in the first place? That would've saved us a ton of time!" Matsu asked. One couldn't blame her for asking. In an escape, being stuck in a fight increased their chances of getting surrounded and captured.

"Not like I had a choice." Shirou said in response. "I had to use both of my swords just to keep her at bay. Using only one to free up a hand would have cost me an arm if not my life and that was her holding back." Shirou had been holding back as well but he was only holding back on his magic usage. He had been giving it his all in terms of sword techniques while Karasuba had been facing him casually until the last moment where she got a little serious. And even without full strength or even a full weapon, she managed to land a cut on him. Without the use of his reality marble, he doubted he could have dealt with her at full strength.

The rest of the run there wasn't too eventful. Though armed guards occasionally popped up to capture or subdue them, Uzume and Shirou had easily dealt with them. They fortunately didn't have any other run ins with enemy Sekirei either, not that many of them were fully tuned yet. It wasn't long before they reached a hallway where a man wearing a sweater and a lab coat was waiting for them.

"Matsu, Uzume, glad that you could make it. And who's this?" The man said with a small smile. Shirou could have asked the same question but it seemed as though he was the girls' conspirator so he let them handle it. On a side note, he had let the black keys he traced earlier dissipate at this time so nobody could study them. They were at a safe enough distance from the woman known as Karasuba.

"Ah, this is Archer-tan. He's been helping us escape. Archer-tan, this is Takehito, a scientist here in charge of tuning us. He's also our ticket out of here." Matsu introduced the two men.

"Soon to be former scientist. Though the cameras are disabled here so they can't see me, I plan on quitting soon after this anyway." The one dubbed as Takehito said in response. "Well, it's nice to meet you. As much as I'd like to continue the pleasantries, we should probably escape before anyone unsavory shows up. We can continue with our introductions later." With that out of the way, he led them to a nearby elevator that Takehito had to unlock with his ID card. Once they all got in, the scientist took out a phone and dialed a number. "Ah, Kaoru-kun? Are you almost here?"

" _Yeah, just give me a little under 5 minutes. Sneaking and circling around MBI with a car, even a small one is hard to do without raising suspicion."_ A gruff voice said from the other side of the line.

"Fair enough, we'll meet you down there." Takehito said in response. "By the way, did you set up that room in the inn like I asked you to?"

" _..."_ The silence was all that was needed to confirm his suspicions. The man hadn't done it.

"What, you forgot!? Kaoru-kun…." As he said that, the space behind him began to twist and gave the illusion that a hannya was right behind him. It frightened the two women who fought the urge to scream in fear. It even managed to unnerve Shirou a little and he was used to dealing with the Wizard Marshall Zelretch who frightened most everyone out of their wits just by being in the room.

" _I'm sorry! Just stop doing whatever that is! I can somehow sense it through a phone line!"_ The man on the other side almost screamed in panic to the satisfaction of Takehito who let the hannya dissipate to everyone's relief.

"As long as you understand. Well, I'll see you later." After ending the call, Takehito put away the phone and began to explain the situation. "That was a friend of mine from my school days and he'll be picking us up. This elevator will take us to the bottom floor and then it's just a hop and a skip away to a certain blind spot in our security." As he said this, the elevator made a 'ding' noise and opened up to what appeared to be a basement with machinery strewn about. Takehito led the group in stride towards a staircase leading to the outside. Not long after a man who appeared a few years older than Shirou had arrived in a small car.

"Sorry I'm late Takehito!" The man said, opening the window. He then noted the extra person. "This is one more than what you told me man. Looks like it'll be a tight squeeze in the back. Hurry up though, a car just sitting here is pretty conspicuous."

"I'll go lead them away then. I wasn't part of this originally so it's only right for me to remove myself from the equation for convenience." Shirou said to the others surprise. "Somebody needs to buy you guys some time after all."

"Oh no you're not! You're injured!" Uzume said as she pointed to the wound Shirou had received just recently.

"It's a light cut, it'll heal really quickly. Besides, they haven't seen my face yet with this hood on so after I keep their attention long enough, I can blend into the crowd and slip away." With Carnwennan, sneaking off through a crowd would be a breeze, with or without the hood but he couldn't exactly say that. "Why do you care anyway? We're just strangers that met today after all."

"The same could be said for you. You could have left us to fight Karasuba ourselves but you still chose to intervene. You helped us so we're gonna help you whether you want it or not Emo Boy." As she said this, she had used her veil to capture Shirou in a vice grip and pulled him into the car.

"Just give it up Archer-tan. Uzume-tan can get really stubborn when she wants to." Matsu said with a slight shrug before following after the two into the back seat. Once Takehito settled down in the shotgun seat, they were off.

* * *

 _C'mon Emiya, think pure thoughts! Don't focus on what's at your sides!_ Shirou kept repeating this to himself as if it were a mantra. He wasn't a horny man by any means but he still couldn't help but be somewhat embarrassed being squished between two admittedly attractive women. It did not help at all that both of them were barely wearing anything, Uzume especially. He almost sighed in relief when the man introduced as Kaoru Seo pointed out something else he could focus his attention on.

"Looks like we got a tail. Better lose them before reinforcements come to surround us." Seo said as he looked at the mirror. There were three MBI cars following after them. "You'd think they'd be a little more discreet. They're practically screaming to the whole damn world that they're chasing after us. That Jinki you stole must be real important."

Shirou didn't know what he was talking about but he decided to file it away for later in favor of dealing with the pursuers first. "Trace on." He barely whispered his aria and traced three common daggers, keeping them hidden in the shadow under the car. With a mental command, he sent them off at high speed and punctured through a tire each. It was right then that Seo had turned the corner and then another one to throw them off, not knowing that they had been dealt with, albeit temporarily.

"Alright! Kaoru does it again whoo! And they say playing Grand Theft Auto was a waste of time." He said with a smug expression.

"Sure thing, Mr. NEET who can't keep a job. Mind getting us to our destination first though?" Takehito said in response to his friend's cockiness. Seo had grumbled something along the lines of 'party pooper' but obliged, taking a turn towards his friend's home. Now that they seemingly didn't need to tear through the road to escape their pursuers, Shirou noticed the signs and billboards, giving him an idea of where he was.

 _So I'm back in Japan huh?_ He thought to himself with a sense of nostalgia. He along with Sakura had followed after Rin to London for her studies at the Clocktower and he had been there for the most part up until Zelretch zapped him here. It made him a little homesick, especially when they arrived at their destination, a traditional looking Japanese home which reminded him of his old house in Fuyuki though this one was smaller.

"Welcome to my home, Izumo Inn." Takehito said as they got out of the car. Seo had gone off to return the car as it was a rental. He'd be back soon though if Takehito and his hannya face had anything to say about it. "Miya, I'm home!" As if it were waiting for that call, the door opened to reveal a young woman with purple hair.

"Takehito-san, I'm glad you came home safely." The woman said with relief evident in her voice.

"Hey, I told you it'd all work out." Takehito said with a carefree smile as he gave her a kiss. "Ah, let me introduce you. Uzume, Archer, this is my wife Miya." Said wife greeted them with a graceful smile.

"It's nice to meet you ma'am." Shirou said politely. Uzume followed suit with her own greeting.

"She's also Sekirei number 1, the strongest Sekirei." Matsu said as she walked up to Miya. "Nice to see you again Miya. Sorry for all the trouble."

"Well, it was Takehito-san's decision and you know how he is, he can't ever resist lending a helping hand to those who need it. I remember that shopping trip last week where he helped an old lady cross the street and then almost immediately after get a cat out of a tree. Which was then followed by him helping a child find his parents. He's such a busy body." Miya replied with a light chuckle.

"Glad to see you two being lovey dovey like usual." Matsu said with a teasing tone, noting the blush that appeared on Miya's face despite what she said.

Beside them, Shirou had his head lowered slightly as the woman's words struck a chord. It reminded him of how he was up until the Holy Grail War. While he doubted the scientist was as innocent as his old self since he worked with the Servant-like Sekirei, the man appeared to have a similar outlook on helping others.

"Hey Emo Boy, you gonna take your hood off anytime soon? We've gotten away from MBI already." Uzume said from Shirou's side, stopping him from brooding any further.

"You're still calling me that?" Shirou said as he slowly removed his hood, revealing his face and red hair. Uzume had to admit, it didn't look bad.

"I'm sticking with that till you tell me your real name." Uzume said with an unapologetic grin.

"Ah right, we still have yet to hear your name Archer." Takehito said having overheard the conversation.

"My name is Emiya, Shirou Emiya." He said in response.

"Nice to officially meet you, Shirou!" Uzume gave him a wide grin once he had finally introduced himself properly and Shirou couldn't help but smile back a little.

"Yeah, same here."

 **Alright, I think I'll just end that there. Well, I think I'm screwed, I gotta write like 15,000 more words in these next 4 days for this competition. XD I brought this hell upon myself by procrastinating so much. So many sleepless nights… Ah well, tell me what you thought of this first chapter. Any feedback or constructive criticism is welcome. And if I get any facts wrong about either series, please let me know.**

 **Till tomorrow most likely, see ya!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again everyone. Welcome back to day 2 of my writing hell.**

 **And now to respond to some reviews**

 **stakler: First, thanks for being my first reviewer for this story. Second, while I promise nothing cause life happens, I intend and will try my best to see this to the end or at the very least, I will finish the story arc I'm on at the time.**

 **98kazer: Yeah, it'd be pretty boring if that were to happen. That's why in my head, most Sekirei rank the same as a weak servant. Shirou as a demi servant will still be relatively stronger than a decent amount of the Sekirei but it's not like he'll have the easiest time dealing with 100 of them.**

 **ENDDRAGON369: Um, no I don't believe there will be any mention of Muramasa or Miyu. For one, this is a Shirou from some variation of Stay Night, not the Miyuverse. And second, he's already (sorta) possessed by Archer through the arm so yeah.**

 **offshorephillip: Lol, I wasn't planning to give him a harem from the start. Unless you count Uzume joining in with Rin and Sakura. But Sekirei wise, just one. Minato still has his harem, Mikogami still has his harem. The only one who doesn't get their Sekirei is Chiho because of Shirou.**

 **As for Takehito, since I never got to see much of him in both the anime and the manga, I'm gonna take some creative liberties with him so hopefully that doesn't throw people too off for those who somehow managed to fully discern his personality in the short bits he got. Hope you all like a carefree Shirou who's slightly sadistic. That's how I picture Takehito for some reason.**

 **One more thing before I start the chapter (stop procrastinating Forest) Funny story, I still can't upload new stories to my original account due to it leading me to a blank screen once I selected the series I was writing for so I had to upload it to this backup account. What the crap Fanfiction website!? It's been like what, 3-4 years since I've reported this problem and it still isn't fixed!?**

 **Okay, got that out of my system. I'm cool now. Onto the second chapter!**

 **Again, I don't own the Fate series or Sekirei. They are owned by TYPE-MOON and Sakurako Gokurakuin respectively.**

* * *

 _Why does my body feel so heavy?_ Shirou thought to himself as he began to awaken from his slumber. The sun had already risen and sunlight shone through the windows. It was later than the magus's usual waking time though it wasn't so surprising considering all that happened the day before. He got transported to another universe, had to fight what was essentially a Servant in terms of stats, and even before all that, he had to take down a Dead Apostle. Being part Servant helped in terms of his energy reserves but he still couldn't help but be exhausted from all that. However, that was not the cause of whatever it was that was weighing him down. More specifically, it was right side he felt he couldn't move. Groggily, Shirou used his free arm to lift the covers of the futon lent to him. What he saw underneath woke him up completely.

"Uzume!? What are you doing in my futon!?" Shirou shouted as he tried to remove himself from her hold on him but found it to be difficult without resorting to force which he was reluctant to do, especially to a girl wearing skimpy underwear. She had a surprisingly strong grip on him after all though it began to weaken as the Sekirei began to wake up.

"Ah, good morning Shirou…" Uzume said sleepily as she slowly got up into a sitting position. At this point, she had let go of Shirou completely, letting him create some distance between them. "Hmm? Why are you in my room?" She said with a yawn, seemingly unabashed by the fact that man in front of her was seeing her in her undergarments.

"That should be my line, you're in my room…." Shirou said in response.

"Must have gone into the wrong room on my way back from the bathroom last night…" The woman merely rubbed her eyes and did a few stretches to wake her body up, inadvertently giving more reasons for Shirou to go red in the face.

"Put on some clothes first! I'm right here!" Shirou exclaimed as he put his hand over his eyes. He was not some pervert who would take advantage of the situation to enjoy the view.

"Ehh, it's not that big of a deal. I'm not completely naked. I'm wearing underwear." Uzume replied as if it was completely normal to be almost naked in a bed with somebody who was practically a stranger. "By the way, how are your injuries?" She began to crawl over to him, wanting to check how the bandages were holding up. Just when Shirou was about to retort, the door to the room opened.

"Hey Emiya, breakfast is ready…" Takehito had entered the room and just happened to see a scantily clad Uzume crawling onto Shirou who also was shirtless save for the bandages Uzume forced onto yesterday's injury. "...Looks like I'm interrupting something. Please excuse me." He then made to close the door behind him.

"Wait! It's not what it looks like!" Shirou cried out in desperation.

"Hahaha. Yeah, I know." Takehito said opening the door again but with a slightly sadistic smirk on his face. "You should look at your expression, it's hilarious!" He couldn't hold back the laugh at Shirou's expense which made the magus narrow his eyes out of irritation. "Sorry, sorry, I couldn't help it. I'll explain. Uzume and most of the other Sekirei were stuck in the MBI facilities for practically all their lives so they'll be a little lacking in common sense. As somebody who works with them, this is a normal occurrence." It was Uzume this time who pouted at his words.

"You're rather loose-lipped about something that seems secret enough to keep away in that building." Shirou said, not sure where the older man was going with it. He was almost put off by it since he was used to the mages at the Clocktower being secretive about everything they did.

"Well, you've already been exposed to quite a bit of said secrets so there's not much of a point to keeping our mouths shut and acting like it doesn't exist now." Takehito pointed out. "Now come down to breakfast and we can talk further. I have a few questions for you as well." Takehito then left the room, leaving Shirou and Uzume to go change into the clothes Takehito and Miya lent them.

* * *

"I suppose we both have questions for each other so why don't we do this? You ask a question, I ask a question in return, and then we repeat?" Takehito said as he put some rice in his mouth. Despite the serious subject matter that would most likely come up during the conversation, the atmosphere was kept relatively light with the presence of the morning meal. On a side note, Matsu was eating in the hidden room Seo and Shirou had set up for her.

"Sure, that sounds fair." Shirou said in response as he dug into the food which he admitted was pretty good for his standards. In the back of his mind though he remained cautious about any mental traps the man might have tried to pull. Shirou took a deep breath and began the questioning. "What are Sekirei?"

"Hmm, to put it simply, they're basically humanoid aliens that are way stronger than humans and have varied powers." Takehito was surprisingly open about this and the existence of aliens almost threw him for a loop. He was used to dealing with fantasy, not sci-fi after all. It was only the fact that he remembered how there was Type Moon, vampires from the moon, that the idea of aliens seemed plausible. "And now it's my turn. Emiya, are you human?" Shirou narrowed his eyes at this. It was an odd question.

"Yes, yes I am." He answered truthfully. He wasn't a normal human sure, especially with having a heroic spirit's arm, but he was still human through and through.

"Takehito, were you thinking he's also a Sekirei?" Uzume asked the scientist curiously. "Matsu said his profile isn't in the data banks."

"It was just a thought. Most Sekirei would fall against Karasuba even with her holding back and yet Emiya here managed to knock her down with some help from you." Takehito said in response. "You can't blame me for thinking that he might be something else."

 _So he saw me in action. I better answer future questions more carefully._ Shirou thought to himself before posing his next question. "Where are the Sekirei from?"

"I honestly couldn't tell you. Not because I don't want to but because I don't know. Almost 20 years ago, the chairman of MBI found a crashed spaceship on an island that just rose up all of a sudden in the Sea of Japan and the Sekirei we have now were in there as unborn babies except for Miya here who was already a fully grown adult." Takehito explained. "So they've just been raised here on earth."

"Wow, you really weren't kidding about being okay with telling me this…" Shirou was almost put off by how the man just explained something that seemed pretty top secret like it was common knowledge.

"Believe me, if it were anybody uninvolved with it already, I'd be much more tight lipped." Takehito said in response. "Eventually, more people, including yourself, would have learned about this to some extent anyway."

"What do you mean I'm-" Shirou was interrupted by Takehito with a finger.

"Remember? It's my turn now. You can save your question for later." Shiou knew he wasn't the best with mental games, that's why he usually left that stuff to Rin, but he still felt a little disappointed for letting Takehito take control of the conversation so easily. "So then, how did you manage to do what you did against Karasuba? I ended up watching the security footage from where I was waiting for you and saw some interesting things. Swords that changed shape and daggers that trapped people to their shadows. Rather interesting abilities."

"It's...a unique skill I have. I can summon copies of weapons I've seen before and I gain abilities based on the weapon." Shirou did not lie about this. His form of magecraft was an ability unique to him because of Avalon being imbedded in his body for all these years. He just left out the fact that said weapons numbered in the hundreds of thousands if not more thanks to his fight with Gilgamesh and the knowledge contained in Archer's arm. As well as the fact that he could rewrite the laws of reality temporarily with the use of his reality marble.

"I see, how interesting." Takehito said with a look of intrigue. If he saw through the half truth, he didn't show it. "Perhaps it's some sort of esper skill or magic? If aliens exist, I wouldn't doubt it."

"How am I supposed to be involved in all this besides yesterday's run in?" Shirou asked, breaking the scientist's train of thought before it could go any further.

"Well, I ended up doing a little test on the blood sample I got from you while Uzume was disinfecting your wound. And though I only have the basic equipment in my personal lab here at home, I still managed to find out that you are qualified to be an Ashikabi." Takehito explained in response.

"A what?" This was new terminology for the magus so he wanted clarification. At this time, a small alarm rang from Takehito's phone.

"Ah, I gotta get going to work. Though I'm quitting, there's still stuff I need to finish up before doing so." Takehito said before shoveling down the rest of his food. "Thanks for the food Miya, it was delicious as always. Emiya, you can ask the girls about the Ashikabi." After giving Miya a kiss on the forehead, Takehito made to walk out the door but not before saying one last thing. "Emiya, I'm sure you have your own circumstances and I don't feel like forcing it out of you. Just know that you're in my good books. You helped somebody even if they didn't need it after all." Leaving with a more genuine smile, he closed the door behind him. At this time, Miya had gathered the dirty dishes and went off to wash them, leaving Shirou with Uzume to ask about the topic.

"So what do you know about these Ashikabi?" Shirou asked the Sekirei sitting next to him. At least now she was in more modest albeit tight clothing. so he didn't have to look away from her in embarrassment.

"Growing up, we were told stuff like how Ashikabi are our destined ones. Somebody who'd be our partner and empower us with their love. Sounds mushy I know, but it's been something most all of us looked forward to, meeting the one supposed to be our Ashikabi." Uzume said with a smile of reminiscence. "Once we Sekirei meet the Ashikabi destined for us, we react. Not that I know how that's supposed to feel. After a kiss, we gain power and then there's an everlasting bond between us and our Ashikabi."

Shirou didn't understand how all of this worked from such a simple explanation but he was already beginning to see similarities between this situation and the Holy Grail War. Even though Saber was his Servant for only a short time, there was some invisible but strong bond that linked them together and he could still feel it to some extent after the war was all over. The situation Uzume was describing was just a more romantic version of it. "So how many Sekirei are there?"

"Last I checked, there were 108. Why do you ask? Wanted to know your chances of snagging a Sekirei for yourself?" Uzume said with a teasing smirk. "Neither Matsu nor I seem to be reacting to you and Miya's already spoken for but there's still about 100 to choose from."

 _There's 108 of them!? And if that sword lady and Uzume are anything to go by, they're all on the level of at least a weak Servant. What is MBI planning here?_ Rather than register the teasing comment, Shirou had instead focused on the number of Sekirei and their possible power. If 108 of them were running around, the city might be in danger. "I don't intend on burying myself too deep into this situation so I'm not going to actively seek them out. Some might be potential enemies after yesterday's little incident after all." That last bit was more an excuse. His real reason was that he didn't know how long he would stay here before Rin managed to find him and bring him back. For all he knew, the girl could appear on top of the table five seconds later and spirit him away without another word.

"Ah, that's true. Gotta be careful about that." Uzume agreed with the reasoning though her expression became disappointed. "Wait, doesn't that make it all the more harder for me to find _my_ Ashikabi?"

"I'm sure with proper civilian wear and maybe a hairstyle change, you can alleviate the issue." Shirou said calmly. He remembered the day that Rin decided to ditch the twin tail look and happened to wear different clothes than usual. Even her own sister thought some stranger or enemy magus had broken into their shared apartment. "If this destined one is in the city, who knows? You might run into them while in the middle of a shopping trip. I'll even accompany you just in case you get attacked. I need to learn the area anyway."

"What a wonderful idea. If that's the case, would you mind buying the groceries for tonight's dinner?" Miya requested cheerfully. In her hands was a grocery bag and a list of what was needed.

"Sure thing Miya." Uzume replied.

"Of course, it's the least we could do in return for letting us stay here." Shirou said taking the basket and list. In the back of his mind, he felt that while he stayed in this universe, he should get a job to earn his keep. "We'll be back soon."

"Alright then, Operation: Find my Ashikabi is a go!" Uzume shouted cheerfully with a fist in the air.

* * *

"No luck so far…" Uzume said with a sigh of defeat. The magus and the Sekirei had taken their time walking around the shopping district, waiting for Uzume to react to anybody as they bought the required groceries. Unfortunately, she hasn't reacted to anybody yet and thus had failed to find her Ashikabi.

"It's been an hour. I doubt you'd find somebody that quickly in a city as big as Tokyo. And not everyone is going to be in the shopping district." Shirou said as he picked out some carrots and onions. "You just have to be patient. If it truly is destiny, it'll happen when it happens."

"Easy for you to say, you haven't been looking forward to it for most of your life." Uzume replied with a pout.

"And if you've managed to wait that long, you can wait for a little while longer right?" Shirou said with a smirk as he patted her head, causing her pout to deepen from being treated like a kid. It did not help that there was a height difference of at least 20 cm. "Anyway, now that we're done with shopping, want to try the lucky draw here? I got two vouchers while we were shopping. We probably won't win a big prize but it could be fun." Growing up, Shirou rarely did these and when he did, it was usually because of Taiga wanting some trip overseas. This time, he just wanted something to distract Uzume from her worries, even if only for a moment.

The two of them got in line and like Shirou expected, Uzume didn't win anything big, just a coupon for crepes. She seemed to be pretty cheerful about it though. Now it was Shirou's turn. He definitely wasn't expecting much. The reason being the thing attached to his left shoulder known as Archer's arm. Though now sealed by Zelretch and made to look like his normal arm, Archer's stats as a Servant still leaked through Shirou's body and made him stronger than most humans by default. The flipside was that he also inherited his future self's E rank luck, something that had since plagued his life. The fact that he won anything higher than tissues was almost a miracle even if it was ranked below Uzume's prize.

"Congratulations! You won the 7th prize! A beautiful ribbon!" One of the people running the stand handed him a small package which contained a blue ribbon. Though cheap, it looked nice enough. Though he hadn't noticed it, a bitter smile appeared on his face as he walked back to Uzume.

"You okay there Shirou?" Uzume noticed it rather quickly. Finally, Shirou had noticed and returned his expression to normal.

"It's nothing, just recalling some memories. I remembered somebody I regarded as an older sister figure dragging me to these things when she could." Shirou said with a bit of a laugh. It again was not a lie but he didn't say the whole truth either. What he had really recalled when he saw the ribbon was his former Servant Saber who always had one in her hair.

"Must be tough, being seperated from those you love." Uzume said in understanding. If she was already getting depressed about not finding her destined one, she could only imagine what it was like for Shirou who was presumably separated from those he cared about if his earlier expression was any indication.

"Yeah, I suppose." He gave a broad response. He did indeed miss Saber and Taiga occasionally as he was separated from them through time and distance but with all the crazy supernatural stuff that kept happening, he hadn't had the time to really slow down and think about it till now. A certain blood sucker certainly wasn't helping matters with the occasional zap to another universe. "Ah right, you can have this. You can use it to tie your hair up." He held out the ribbon to Uzume. "Maybe you can try something like a side ponytail?"

"Oh? Is that what you're into Shirou?" Uzume said with a smirk. She couldn't help but try to get a jab in.

"That's not it." Shirou said in rebuttal. In reality, it was merely his selfish wish to have the ribbon in a different location than where Saber had it at the back of her head.

"Whatever you say." Uzume replied nonchalantly as she took her hair and used the ribbon to tie it to the side. "How do I look? Am I getting closer to your dream girl?"

"I think it suits you honestly. You look cute." Shirou said with a smile. Though she didn't react at all, Uzume still couldn't help but get a bit flustered and slightly red in the face. On a side note, Shirou also thought to himself that the change in hairstyle really did create a different look.

"I-I see! Now then, let's go get some crepes with this coupon!" Stammering a little, Uzume walked in the direction she remembered seeing the sweets shop at, a tint of red still on her face. Once they had exchanged the voucher for two crepes, the pair opted to sit on a bench in the park. "Ahh, it's so sweet!" The Sekirei squealed with delight.

"Not too bad." Shirou muttered though in the back of his mind, he was already thinking of ways to improve it. To him, it was a tad too sweet and relied too much on the sugary content. The pancake wrapping also should have been cooked 6.5 seconds longer.

"Mwahaha! You'll never defeat me hero!" A kid's shout tore him away from his thoughts about the crepe and he looked up to see a group of children playing what appeared to be some rendition of Hero vs Demon Lord. The child standing at the top of the playground who was presumably playing the demon lord was wearing a ridiculous cape and the one playing the main hero wore an equally ridiculous one.

"I _will_ defeat you Demon King! Cause a hero of justice always prevails!" The other caped child said in return.

" _I'll become one for you. Just leave your dream to me."_

"You're doing it again." Uzume said as she leaned into his field of vision to get his attention. "Looking back on the past again?"

"Just remembering a stupid dream I had growing up." Shirou replied, trying to wave it off as he kept his line of sight on the children playing hero.

"What was it?" She asked out of curiosity.

"...To be a Hero of Justice." Shirou replied after a moment of hesitation. "A rather naive dream isn't it? I wanted to be able to save everyone and with my….abilities, I thought I could do it one day. Reality's pretty harsh though. You can't save everyone after all." His face now had a self deprecating smile on it. He had chosen his loved ones over his ideals and he didn't regret that. However, he still felt that the dream itself, that wanting others to be happy, was beautiful in a way and felt some regret that he couldn't help everyone. That some had to die along the way.

"I see...:" Uzume replied simply in response. She didn't how to respond to that. She wasn't some expert in psychology and she didn't know the full story anyway. But looking at him like this just struck a chord in her heart. Shirou wasn't the one destined to be her Ashikabi but she still didn't want to see him with this sad expression. Eventually, she settled on leaning her head on his shoulder and just saying what came to mind. "I can't pretend to know what you've been through or understand everything you're talking about. But if you're talking about being a hero, you already are one. You managed to save me after all. If you weren't there yesterday, I probably wouldn't be here today. So at the very least, you're _my_ hero. And I won't let you say otherwise."

Uzume's words were barely louder than a whisper but it had reached Shirou loud and clear. Though they didn't get rid of his regrets, he felt as though some of the burden had been alleviated. "Thanks….Uzume."

* * *

"In the end, I couldn't manage to find my Ashikabi…" Uzume said with a sigh. After their little moment, something Uzume had been a tad bit embarrassed about doing later on, the two of them took the long way home so they could increase Uzume's chances of finding her Ashikabi. They even took another detour so Shirou could pick up a job application as a chef for a small cafe. Unfortunately, it was all to no avail. It only resulted in a few guys trying to hit on Uzume only to get kicked in the nuts.

"It's only the first day. I'm sure you'll react to somebody eventually." Shirou said, trying to comfort her.

"I might have had a better chance if you let me jump up to the hospital rooftop." Uzume said with a pout. In the middle of their trip, Uzume had made to jump onto the rooftops and search for her Ashikabi from high up on one of the taller buildings in the area, the hospital, only to be stopped by Shirou.

"And give Takehito-san and Miya-san trouble by risking your cover?" Shirou said in retort. "Normal people can't jump that high, you'd cause a scene. We're trying to stay low key so we don't get attacked again remember?"

"Says the man who managed to jump as high as me to pull me back down!" Uzume shot back.

"I said _normal_ people. I don't think a guy who can conjure swords out of thin air is in that category." Shirou refuted her argument. "Let's just be glad that nobody saw us and that we somehow didn't damage the produce." It's only been a day and he's already gotten used to their little arguments. Shirou didn't know what to think about that. Perhaps sticking around Rin for so long had done something to him.

"Welcome back you two." Miya said from the entrance. "And your new hairstyle looks cute Uzume." The said girl blushed at the compliment.

"We're back Miya. Sorry for taking so long." Shirou said apologetically.

"It's fine, searching for your other half is important after all." Miya nodded in understanding. "Though I haven't been winged myself, I know the feeling of longing all too well as a fellow Sekirei."

"Eh? You haven't been winged? What about Takehito?" Uzume asked out of surprise. Shirou shared a similar if less exaggerated reaction. In the short time the two knew the couple, they seemed to be a perfect match that loved each other very much..

"As much as I love my husband, he just simply didn't have the genetics to be an Ashikabi. I don't mind however. Ashikabi or not, he is still my beloved." Miya said this an ever so gentle smile. "Well, come on in. I'll get dinner started."

"Miya-san, mind if help? I'm rather confident in my skills as a cook." Shirou offered. He hadn't had a chance to cook in a long while and he was itching to get back in the kitchen.

"That'd be great! Thank you for offering." Miya said before leading Shirou to the kitchen. Uzume had opted to just go back to her room and rest.

"So what will we be making?" Shirou asked as he put on one of the spare aprons.

"Our main dish tonight is beef stew. Think you could handle it?"

"I could probably do that while cooking two other dishes." Shirou replied rather confidently.

"My, how confident. Let's see if you can back it up." Miya said as she brandished a knife. It was as if to say that she wouldn't lose to him. Shirou was ready to rise to the challenge and the two cooks prepared for a culinary showdown. Later on that evening, Takehito could have sworn all the dishes on the table were shining.

* * *

"Man, that was awesome! I wouldn't mind having you for an Ashikabi just for your cooking skill alone!" Uzume said jokingly as she relaxed on the porch leading to the backyard.

"Glad you liked it." Shirou said with a smile. Shirou felt a sense of accomplishment from that. He always did when he managed to satisfy somebody's appetite. And what an appetite Uzume had. It rivaled Saber's. He supposed it made sense seeing how she was practically a Servant that didn't run on magic power. She probably expended a lot of energy. "So where do you think we should search next?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. The city's a big place after all." Uzume went back to sulking and lay on her back. "How am I supposed to find my Ashikabi in this place? With how many people are here, the stars have to be perfectly aligned or something for us to meet!"

"Maybe you just weren't meant to meet your Ashikabi until a later time." Shirou said in response. He himself didn't believe in destiny, Zelretch's ability to see parallel worlds kinda put a stop to that, but he did feel that some things were meant to happen when they did. "As I said before, you just have to be patient." Rather than reassure her, his words made her turn on her side with her back to him. "Come on now, don't sulk."

"Hey, you got to have your emotional brooding moment earlier. I get one too." She said with a pout that masked a feeling of uncertainty.

"Alright then, I'll bite. What's wrong?" Shirou said with a small sigh.

"I just….wanted a feeling of certainty you know? About who my Ashikabi is." Uzume said as she slowly sat back up. "I didn't think about who it'd be at all until Takehito brought it up this morning. But after that, I started thinking of all sorts of things. What'd they'd be like, would I like them, could I dislike them, even if I reacted to them? Even the conversation we had with Miya earlier about her not being Takehito's Sekirei made me wonder what would happen if the person I fell in love with was different from the person who was my Ashikabi. Even with all of these questions plaguing my mind, I can't answer any of them until I meet my Ashikabi. At the very least, I want to find them before somebody forcibly wings me."

"That can happen? I thought you Sekirei only reacted to specific Ashikabi." Shirou asked in response.

"React, yes. We only react to the one person who's supposed to be our Ashikabi. However, anybody that has the qualifications to be an Ashikabi can wing any Sekirei, with or without reaction." Uzume said in response with a hint of disgust in her voice. "Heck, if you kissed me right now, I'd be your Sekirei just like that."

"I'd never force myself on you!" Shirou exclaimed.

"I know you wouldn't. That's why I trust you enough to be vulnerable like this." Uzume said with a small smile. The two of them had gotten off to a rocky start having argued with each other during their fight with Karasuba but they were practically joined at the hip now after one day. "Unfortunately, not every Ashikabi will be as nice as you. There'll be some that try to force it once they learn of their ability."

"We'll just need to keep them from doing so then." Shirou said matter of factly as if it were the obvious thing. "If they learn of their ability, they'll probably have a Sekirei winged. Even so, there's two of us, I think we could take them. Can't be any harder than the one from yesterday." He said this with a confident grin. Seeing this made Uzume double over in laughter.

"You're acting as if this wouldn't be a big deal. And what's with that confident guy act? It's hilarious!" Uzume said in between laughs at Shirou's expense. With how serious he had been acting the past two days, this seemed a bit out of character for him. "Though I suppose if it's you, you'd be able to back it up." Having calmed down she began to scoot closer to him. "Shirou, I've decided. Become my Ashikabi."

"Wait, what?" Shirou couldn't understand how Uzume's train of thought went from talking about the bad Ashikabi to him being _her_ Ashikabi. "And didn't you want to find the one you'd react to?"

"Well, there's no telling when I'll meet them or what they'll be like. They'd be complete strangers after all." Uzume said in response. "They could be somebody I'd love to death or somebody who's guts I'd hate but rather than just letting fate decide for me, I want to take my chances with _you_ whom I trust." As she said this, she got ever so closer.

"But I don't plan on sticking around here forever. I'm gonna go home eventually." Shirou knew that at some point, his ride would be here to take him back to his universe and he probably wouldn't come back. In response though, Uzume grabbed his face to turn it towards her.

"I don't care. When the time comes, I'll go with you. The goal of a Sekirei is to be with her Ashikabi anyway." Uzume wasn't taking no for an answer so before Shirou could give another retort, she brought her lips to his. Immediately afterward, wings of light came out from her back which began to curl around the newly formed pair. At the same time, Shirou felt a burst of power swell within him as his magic circuits began to connect with something. Once Uzume had broken the kiss, he felt that the connection was fully formed as the wings began to dissipate.

"See? That wasn't too bad." Uzume said with her usual teasing tone though her red face betrayed her feelings of embarrassment. It was then she noticed three red marks on her right hand. It looked like a sword with two wings at its sides. "What's this supposed to be? Wait Shirou, don't you have something like this on your right hand?" Curious, Shirou decided to take a look and he was shocked by what he saw.

 _Command Seals? But how? Did the Dead Count Shapeshifter Seals have something to do with it?_ Shirou shook those thoughts out of his head for now as it wasn't the most pressing matter at the moment. Despite him not being a full Servant, it seems that he was still able to (unintentionally) form a contract with Uzume. That would explain the new link he felt between himself and her. "Well, this is certainly a surprise. It appears we've somehow become each other's masters." Shirou said, finally responding to Uzume.

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Uzume asked. "Are you actually some sort of mutated Sekirei that can be another Sekirei's Ashikabi or something?"

"Not exactly." Shirou said as he scratched the back of his head, wondering how to explain this. "It'll take a while to clear up everything but to put things simply, I'm not completely human (technically) and the non human side of me can form contracts similar to that of a Sekirei."

"So it means we're connected in another way?" Uzume said with a cute little head tilt.

"Pretty much." Shirou nodded.

"Well, that's all I care about for now. We can leave the complicated stuff for later. For now, let's drink to celebrate!" Uzume said cheerfully as she pulled out a bottle of sake and a pair of cups seemingly out of nowhere. "Please take care of me from now on, my beloved Ashikabi." As she said this, she had the warmest smile on her face.

"Yeah, same to you…. Master." Shirou said with a small smirk.

"Wow, that felt weird to be called that. Don't do that again." Uzume said before laughing. This time Shirou couldn't help but join in on the laughter.

 **Auughh, I'm dying over here to get this done on time. XD**

 **Hopefully, this didn't feel too rushed, I'm just on a time limit. I'll probably go back and change it after this competition is over. Then again, Minato winged most of his Sekireis the day he met them so I suppose what I did isn't too much of a stretch. I just wanted them to develop more of a relationship before it happened.**

 **Anyway, please leave your thoughts on how it's going so far. I'm gonna post this and then start the next chapter immediately.**

 **Omake:**

"Mwahaha! You'll never defeat me hero!" A kid's shout tore him away from his thoughts about the crepe and he looked up to see a group of children playing what appeared to be some rendition of Hero vs Demon Lord. The child standing at the top of the playground who was presumably playing the demon lord was wearing a ridiculous cape and the one playing the main hero wore an equally ridiculous one.

"I _will_ defeat you Demon King! Cause a hero of justice always prevails!" The other caped child said in return. "Red Justice Ready!"

"Blue Justice Ready!" Said another kid

"Pink Justice Ready!" Said the only girl playing with them

"Let's go! Summoning the mechas!" All of a sudden, three giant robots, a red lion, a blue pterodactyl, and a pink humanoid wearing a tutu came into being. The three children jumped in them and got ready for battle.

"You fools! You think that can stop me!" The kid cackled before summoning a bigger robot "You cannot stop me!"

"That's what you think! Combine! Power Ranger Gundam Lagann!" The three formed some weird combination that also happened to grow in size. The children then went off to battle and destroyed a good chunk of the city before the heroes won.

"Wow, kid's toys are really advanced these days." Uzume said in awe.

 _That's a toy?_ Shirou couldn't help but retort in his brain.


	3. Chapter 3

**Well….I unfortunately didn't meet the 20,000 word limit by the deadline. That's why this chapter was delayed for so long. Couldn't help but get a tad bit depressed. I was really close but just didn't make it. Curse my manager for scheduling shifts on days I'm supposed to be off…. But don't worry, I'm not planning to just stop writing this fanfic. I just needed to recharge a bit (okay maybe a lot), get some proper sleep, and get over it. I'll make it next time!**

 **And now for review responses**

 **stakler: Hello again and while the idea of involving Chiho in some way in the story crossed my mind I certainly didn't think of what you're thinking of you horn dog. XD**

 **98kazer: Yup, I'm still continuing. And the reason why you didn't find much in my profile is that, as I said in the author's note of the last chapter, this is my backup account. Regardless, the ones in my main account were also from a long time ago and I only think like 2 of them are readable. If you do want to see how crappy I started out, feel free to search my name up without the 2 or copy the link in this account's bio.**

 **offshorephillip: The reason I didn't have Uzume react to Shirou is that genetically or however that works, Uzume would only react to Chiho. The idea of this contest was to throw Shirou into another world that already has its own rules in place like Sekirei only react to one person. Shirou does not replace Chiho in this world and is more like an alternate path Uzume could take. If you noticed, I wrote it so it's because of Shirou's presence that it keeps Uzume away from Chiho who should have been unlikely to find due to her being in the hospital. His 'injury' prompted Uzume to not be a decoy and run into her like in the manga and Shirou keeping Uzume from going to the hospital roof kept her from meeting Chiho like in the anime. If they had met, then Uzume would've been winged like normal.**

 **PageOfMinds: Yeah, I know it was rushed and I've learned now to not procrastinate. I don't even know how I managed to forget writing since the contest started in like October or November. I am going to go back and fix up the first two chapters over time, adding stuff and making it not look rushed.**

 **That random Guest: No, I do not think the title should be "Ashikabi and Sekirei, Master and Master" as that would not make sense.**

 **HAREM NEVERDIE: Anybody can feel to correct me if I'm wrong about the timeline. Since Takehito barely showed up in the series, I had to rely on the Sekirei wiki site. There, it said Takehito helped those like Matsu or Homura get away from MBI. While that doesn't show he actually aided in their escape like in this fanfic, it at least shows that Matsu's escape which was aided by Uzume (as well as Homura's escape) happened before his death in the series.**

 **And now that I got a bit more time to wait for responses, I have a poll on my profile asking which Sekirei you would want to join Shirou alongside Uzume. It's not definite that I'll go exactly by the votes but it'll give me an idea at least. You can choose up to three choices.**

 **Wow, this is way too long an author's note. Gotta cut down on the responses to reviews. XD**

 **Random thing I forgot to mention prior. Shirou is around 20 right now.**

 **And holy crap, 180 faves and 298 follows just from the first two chapters. I'm sure that's not much in retrospect, but this is huge to me. When I first started, I had to do 22 chapters to get that much. Is this what happens when you don't use OCs? Thanks to you all!**

 **Once again, I don't own the Fate series or Sekirei. They are owned by TYPE-MOON and Sakurako Gokurakuin respectively.**

* * *

" _I'll become one for you. Just leave your dream to me."_

"Huh?" Uzume heard a voice that was both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

" _For the first time, I saw that hell."_

All of a sudden, smoke began to envelop her and blind her. By the time she was able to see again, she bore witness to a horrible sight. Flames surrounded her as she saw what looked to be a city burning. People who failed to save themselves. Others trying to save a loved one, only to be trapped themselves. They all burned around her.

"W-what is this!?" Her eyes widening in horror. The scene in front of her made her want to throw up. She thought it had to be a bad dream caused by the hangover from last night's drinking but something deep inside told her that this was real.

In the midst of all this chaos, Uzume noticed a small boy, probably about six or seven, walk past her and continued on through the flames. She saw people reach out to him, begging to be saved or to save their loved ones. The begging then turned to curses as the boy walked past them. He placed his hands over his ears, to keep out their curses, their begging, their screams. Despite it all, he kept on walking. Even when he fell, he got back up with tears in his eyes that would dry up soon after from the heat of the flames.

" _What was the point of me surviving that hell? Why was I spared?"_

 _Shirou?_ Uzume recognized the voice of the one who became her partner, her beloved Ashikabi. She turned back towards the boy and realized who he was. "Shirou!" She ran as fast as she could but the distance between them didn't close one bit. Eventually, to her horror, Shirou had lost his strength and fell to the ground and didn't have enough to get back up again. Even though he couldn't move, he still raised his hand towards the sky as a last act of defiance. The light in his eyes refused to give out just yet. He still wanted to continue living.

Uzume wanted to reach out to him, to take his hand, to tell him everything would be alright but she couldn't get close enough to him. She saw the light in his eyes fading, the willpower to stay alive began crumbling under the smoke and soot that filled his lungs. Her eyes were filled with tears as she saw this and they fell when she saw his hand drop. However, someone grabbed his hand before it hit the ground.

"He's alive! Thank you! You saved me!" An older man said with a smile, tears unashamedly running down his face. The next thing Uzume knew, a bright light illuminated the area. It felt familiar, as if it were an integral part of her being.

 _"If I saved somebody...would I be as happy as him?"_

Uzume woke up with tears in her eyes. It was still dark out so she hadn't been asleep for long. She still wasn't sure what she had just seen but it definitely wasn't just a mere dream. She turned her face to the right where Shirou was sleeping in his own futon. The night before, Uzume petitioned to sleep in the same room as Shirou as they were now a pair and after an hour of bickering, the magus eventually gave in provided they sleep in different futons. Seeing him there asleep, and more importantly alive, gave her a sense of calm. That things were going to be okay. She decided to be a little selfish and moved from her futon into his to hold him as if to confirm he was still there. Being able to touch him made her feel relief. "Love you Shirou." She gave him a small peck on the lips to his unknowing and smiled before going back to sleep, wishing to momentarily forget what she saw.

 _Well, looks like I can't get up now._ Shirou thought to himself. He had awoken just a bit before Uzume crawled over and into his futon. Being part Servant meant he didn't need to sleep as much so he was planning to wake up really early to do some training or meditate so he could unlock more of Archer's arsenal. Uzume's ironclad grip around his body, which only seemed to get stronger after she got winged, however made either option difficult. He couldn't do the first one without using force to escape. He couldn't exactly meditate either with Uzume's melons squished into his side and distracting him. So not wanting to wake her up, he just relaxed and tried to sift through all of the information he had come across yesterday.

Sekirei were basically aliens that looked like humans and they all seemed to have special powers that put them at the level of Servants. And for some reason, by forming a type of contract with a human and literally sealing it with a kiss, they were able to gain a boost to their abilities. It made Shirou wonder what made a person qualified to be an Ashikabi. It wasn't a trait unique to the people here. He himself qualified and he was from a different universe. For now, he wouldn't be able to find out until he met another Ashikabi that he could somehow analyze with structural grasping.

The next point had to do with Uzume, the woman currently holding onto him and the one he was in a two way contract with. Though he was her master or Ashikabi as a Sekirei, she was his master as a Servant. Judging by Uzume's reactions last night, only the Ashikabi/Sekirei contract was supposed to be formed. So something happened for her body to recognize him as a Servant in some form and form a contract Servant wise. He remembered there was some weird feeling where he felt his magic circuits began connecting to something but he initially assumed that was just the result of the bond between an Ashikabi and their Sekirei. But now, Shirou began to suspect otherwise. He needed to use structural grasping on her. Due to Uzume cuddling his side, his hand was right next to her legs. After a silent apology, though he doubted she'd mind, Shirou laid his hand on her thigh to begin the process. "Trace on." He let his energy flow into the girl as his magic began its admittedly invasive journey throughout Uzume's body to analyze her. When it had finished, Shirou was shocked by what he found.

 _She has a Magic Core in her body!_ Shirou thought in surprise. He knew that there had to be something at least similar to od or magic energy running through her body or else he wouldn't be able to receive it from her. The last thing he expected though was to find that she had what was basically a small magic core in her. It dwarfed in comparison to the one Saber had but Uzume's still could produce way more than Shirou could with his magic circuits. _Does every Sekirei have this? Cause that'd just be terrifying!_ Shirou imagined 108 of these mini mana factories and he almost shivered. It really made curious as to what MBI was planning with them. He really hoped that said plans didn't involve gaining military power to take over the world. It was then he remembered that he had yet to explain the details of their relationship as Master and Servant. Well, that could be done in the morning. Now he just had to wait for Uzume to wake up. _Might as well get some extra sleep…_ Even though he didn't need it, extra sleep was always nice.

* * *

"Why am I not surprised you got into my futon anyway?" Shirou asked as the two of them were getting ready for the day. He wasn't exactly against her sleeping next to him, he was already used to Rin and Sakura doing so occasionally, but he wasn't sure he could take Uzume hugging him in her underwear for long before something broke in him and made him lose his self control. The two sisters did their best to keep Shirou from becoming the steel hearted man that was Archer but that itself had resulted in some negative effects. Well, he thought so but the girls thought the exact opposite, especially in bed.

"Hehehe, what can I say? You're just really nice to hug." Uzume said with her tongue sticking out a little to tease him. She still didn't know how to approach Shirou about her dream. It's not like she could just walk up to him and say 'Hey, did you happen to survive a fire that killed everyone else around you?'. If it never actually happened, Shirou would think she was crazy and if it was true, maybe it would cause some mental trauma to resurface. At the moment, she was putting her hair up in a side ponytail again with the blue ribbon she had quickly endeared herself to. It was her first gift from her Ashikabi after all. The thing was, she prioritized this over putting on her clothes first.

"I'm glad I fulfill the role of body pillow so well for you…" Shirou said with a sigh as he looked away. "Just put on some clothes already." Rather than do it immediately, Uzume decided to glomp him first to his embarrassment before going off to do just that. Once she had put on something, Shirou turned back around and decided to address the issue, though not before picking up the conspicuous rubber duck with glasses on them and throwing it out the window. From structural grasping the room earlier, he knew it was a surveillance device, most likely made by Matsu if the glasses were any indication. "We have some time before Miya-san or Takehito-san call us for breakfast. Shall I explain what I talked about yesterday? Though please do remember to keep it secret." As he said this, he used a rune on the door to make sure no sound got out. Though he couldn't do complex stuff, he could still manage the basics of runes.

"You said something about not being completely human right? Then what's the non human part?" Uzume asked as she sat down on her futon, now acting a bit more seriously which was something Shirou appreciated.

"A Servant." Shirou replied simply, already expecting what she would say next as he sat in front of her..

"So something like a butler?" Uzume answered in a confused tone. That sounded human enough.

"No, not that sort of Servant. If I had to put it simply, you could say they're like human familiars summoned by magic." Shirou clarified.

"Wait, magic exists?" Uzume asked, interrupting the flow for a bit. "Isn't that just fantasy?"

"Says the girl that can use telekinesis." Shirou retorted, remembering how she could make her veil move with her mind. How that worked with only her veil was beyond him at the moment but he decided not to focus on that for now." And yes, though what most people, including myself, can do is considered magecraft rather than true magic." Shirou said in response. "I'll explain in more detail later but just know that these Servants are summoned using these powers." After Uzume nodded in response, he continued. "Servants aren't just any human familiars however. They're familiars that use Heroic Spirits, or well known heroes throughout history."

"So somebody like King Arthur could be summoned like this?" Uzume asked in response.

"Yes, something like that." Shirou said, not wanting to think about the coincidence of his new partner using King Arthur as an example. "Anyway, human mages use a ritual that could summon these heroic spirits and form a contract with them. That is the simple explanation of what a Servant is. That brings us to my situation. I am not a Servant myself. I merely have a part of his body attached to me and I've gained his powers."

"Which part of your body?"

"My left arm. My original one got blown off a couple of years ago and then I had this one magically grafted onto me. Don't ask" Shirou said with a soured expression as he pointed to Archer's arm for emphasis. Uzume looked confused about how it didn't look any different from his right arm but he wanted to spare her the story of how his future self tried to kill him for now among other things. "But apparently, having the arm and its powers flowing through me was enough for me to be considered a Servant in essence. That's why when we connected as Ashikabi and Sekirei, we also connected as Servant and Master."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Uzume examined the command seals on her hand as she asked this.

"You may not know this but your body has a core that allows you to function and give you power. The energy it can store and produce is far greater than what I am able to do. It appears that while you were being winged, your core inadvertently connected with my arm and that led to me becoming your Servant as well as your Ashikabi." He realized that this was probably gonna be a huge amount of information to take in.

"I remember something like that being mentioned. All I know about it though is that it's called a Tama and it's practically our soul." Uzume said in response.

"Hmm, interesting." Shirou decided to file that information away for later. "I realize we've covered a lot and it's quite a bit to take in but there's one more thing for me to mention, the marks on your hand."

"Are they the proof of our contract or something? Like this mark that appeared on my back after I got winged." She turned around and pulled down her shirt to show there was indeed a mark there.

"Sort of but they also have another use. They're called Command Seals and using them, you can give me a total of three orders I cannot refuse." Shirou explained. "You could order me to do just about anything and my body would carry out that order almost immediately whether I wanted to or not. You could even order me to commit suicide and there'd be nothing I could do once the command was given."

"What!? There's no way I'd do that!?" Uzume exclaimed with almost a fury. An Ashikabi was a Sekirei's most treasured person and it was unthinkable for her to do something of the sort to hers.

"Don't worry, it was just an example. I trust you enough to know you'd never do it." Shirou said in response. "But at the same time, they're trump cards for you to wield. Not just against me but against our opponents. Like if you were in grave danger and I wasn't there, you could summon me to you and I'd teleport there. But do keep in mind you only have three so don't use them recklessly." Sensing that Shirou was done….. for now anyway, Uzume fell back onto the futon in a daze.

"Wow, that was a lot. How do you keep track of it all?" Uzume was still trying to wrap her head around the idea of summoning heroes from the past or even magic for that matter and then Shirou just had to slam more information on top of that.

"Well, I don't expect you to remember all of that at once but I just wanted to give you a brief overview of our situation." Shirou replied.

"That was supposed to be brief…." Uzume said with a sigh. "I don't want to hear the full version for a while then…"

"And telling that story would take forever." Shirou said with a small laugh. "Now come on, if you're done spewing steam from your brain, Miya-san probably has breakfast ready by now.

* * *

"Man, this is good!" Seo surprisingly was at the table eating breakfast alongside them. Not that Shirou had anything against the man who had helped them a few days ago but he had pretty much walked in unannounced through the front door and begged for food. It reminded him of Taiga who sponged off of him for years. This impression of him wasn't helped by Miya's strained smile directed towards the moocher.

"I'm glad you still enjoy my cooking, even if you are a scumbag." Miya responded with a giggle that appeared to be laced with malice. Shirou could have sworn that the hannya mask that her husband materialized was also beginning to appear behind Miya albeit faintly. It was enough though to give off killing intent which made Seo stiffen up. He then turned to the other two men at the table to save him.

"So what are you doing here Seo-san?" Shirou asked with a sigh, changing the subject to Seo's relief.

"Besides getting some free food, I just wanted to check in on our runaways." The man cheerfully admitted his intentions before stuffing his face with more food. "So Uzume, how are things going with you so far? I almost didn't recognize you." With more regular clothes and a different hairstyle, her appearance had changed quite a bit compared to two days ago.

"It's going great! I even found my Ashikabi!" Uzume replied cheerfully before clinging to Shirou's arm to reveal the identity of said Ashikabi. Seo raised an eyebrow out of surprise.

"Damn kid, you work fast. You've known each other for like 2 days?" Seo said with a laugh. "Though I suppose you're actually pretty slow by Sekirei standards. As I'm sure you're aware of by now, Sekirei react to the one that's destined to be their Ashikabi or something like that. I'm surprised you managed to hold her off for this long."

"Oh, I didn't react to Shirou." Uzume stated matter of factly, causing Seo to raise the other eyebrow in surprise.

"Huh, and here I thought you were the goody two shoes type." Seo said, looking at Shirou who merely sighed.

"I didn't force anything. If anything, Uzume forced herself on me." Shirou replied, trying to clear whatever suspicions there were about his character. This remark shifted Seo's gaze from the Ashikabi back to the Sekirei as if to ask why. Not that his unasked question was uncalled for. From what Takehito told him, Sekirei usually had the goal of finding the Ashikabi they reacted to. Sure, he was aware of the possibility of an Ashikabi forcing themself onto a Sekirei but it was the other way around in this case.

"Well, Shirou's a nice guy and there's always the chance the one destined for me won't be such a good person. So I thought I'd just take my chances with a guy I've taken a liking to rather than a total stranger." Uzume said in response, her face gaining a tinge of red.

"Lucky you then kid. You might end up with more than one Sekirei then. Uzume and whichever Sekirei that reacts to you. Looks like fun times are in your future." Seo teased at something rather inappropriate and Shirou was embarrassed to admit to himself that he already had experience with it thanks to the two sisters in his life. Not that he felt like digging too deep into this universe's issues. "Man, I hope I get a couple of hot babes as Sekirei."

"I for one find the pair cute and approve." Miya chimed in with a smile. "We Sekirei should follow our hearts after all. I do hope that the Sekirei that's supposed to react to you does the same and finds something better than trash."

"Yeesh, way to kill a guy's buzz Miya…" Seo sighed in annoyance.

"You're an Ashikabi too Seo-san?" Shirou asked in surprise.

"Well, I'm technically not one yet but Takehito tested me and said I also have the potential." Seo replied. "I just gotta find myself a busty Sekirei of my own!" As the older man let out a laugh, Shirou thought back to his earlier thoughts of what qualified a person to be an Ashikabi. If only he could use Structural Analysis on him and use Seo's body to compare with his own. Not that he could do it without looking unnatural about it. He briefly entertained knocking him out or getting him drunk so he could analyze him when he noticed Takehito not joining in on the conversation. With the scientist's name being mentioned, one would think he'd at least confirm what Seo said.

"Takehito-san, is something wrong? You look rather serious." Shirou asked the man sitting across from him at the breakfast table. The person in question was looking at a tablet with a slight frown on his face. Having his name called though brought him back from his musings to see his wife, Shirou, and Uzume look upon him with somewhat worried expressions. He hardly touched his food which was unusual considering the praise he gave Miya's cooking.

"Well, it's nothing big at the moment. But Minaka-kun has made his first move." Takehito said with a sigh, putting down his tablet momentarily and beginning to eat.

"Minaka?" Shirou asked as he didn't know the person this name was associated with.

"The chairman of MBI as well as the person who is in charge of the Sekirei overall." Takehito answered.

"In other words, he's a crazy bastard with a bunch of superhumans at his command." Seo said with irritation evident in his voice. "So what did that nutjob do this time?"

"He's started the first steps of the Sekirei plan by releasing out into the world some of the earlier Sekirei, including those from the Disciplinary Squad." Takehito replied with a slight grimace. " I knew I wouldn't be able to stop it from getting this far and some already disappeared on their own anyway but he really is going through with this….."

"I feel like I'm the only one left out of the loop here but what is this Sekirei plan?" Shirou posed another question to the man. "Based on what Uzume told me yesterday, I assume it involves the Ashikabi and Sekirei pairs?"

"Yes that is correct. The basic idea is that all 108 Sekirei find their Ashikabi and get winged, forming a bond between the two. Afterwards, Minaka-kun intended on having them fight each other in this city until there's only one pair left." Shirou knew he wouldn't like Takehito's answer. There were already parallels to the grail war and this proclamation of a battle royale among powerful humanoids just added to them.

"...What's the purpose of all this fighting?" Shirou asked behind grit teeth as he thought back to the results of mages fighting over that stupid wish granting cup. The fire where he was the only survivor, what Sakura had to suffer through, Illya…. Even if the Sekirei weren't as powerful as some of the stronger Servants, there was 108 of them and it was still possible for them to cause quite a bit of damage depending on what kind of powers they had. And those in control of those powers, the Ashikabi could possibly misuse them for their own nefarious purposes.

"The professor didn't say much about what's in it for the Ashikabis but for the Sekirei, they get to stay with their Ashikabi, their most treasured person forever." Uzume was the one who ended up answering the question with a light blush on her face at the thought of it.

"My apologies for being blunt but that has got to be one of the stupidest ideas I've ever heard." Shirou said to the shock of Uzume. Takehito on the other hand had a hidden smirk on his face.

"Shirou...do you not want to stay with me?" Uzume asked with teary eyes. She was legitimately afraid that her Ashikabi would just abandon her after one day even though she knew that Shirou wasn't that kind of person in the back of her head. However, the bond between them as Ashikabi and Sekirei had transmitted Shirou's feelings of disgust, causing the misunderstanding.

"Ah, it's not like that." Shirou reassured Uzume, his facial expression softening as he did so. Uzume had sighed in relief when he said that. "It's not the first part of this plan that I'm against. It's rather romantic after all. I just can't see the purpose of this battle royale for a prize that we could attain without needing to fight."

"It appears our way of thinking lines up Shirou-kun." Takehito said with a smile. Shirou raised an eyebrow at the change of referral. "Like you, I'm also against the Sekirei fighting each other as well as some of the other things Minaka-kun is trying to do. I want the Sekirei to be free to find the ones they're destined for."

"I suppose that means you have a plan?" Shirou inquired. He didn't know when he was going home but if he could prevent similar tragedies from happening, he wouldn't mind helping for as long as he could.

"You could say I have a few things in motion at the moment though I admittedly haven't gotten it all planned out." Takehito said in response. "However, I won't be able to do it alone. Minaka-kun has all of MBI and practically the city itself under his thumb after all. On top of that, some of the stronger Sekirei are his guard dogs that take down those that oppose him. I'll need help to deal with them especially."

"So you need me and Uzume to deal with them?" Shirou asked that question more like a statement. He wasn't too surprised by the outcome. While not doing as much as his alternate future self, there were a good deal of times he had to be called to action.

"I don't need you two to actively go out and find them but yes, dealing with them if necessary would be helpful." Takehito replied. "Seo and Matsu as well, it'd be helpful if you two chipped in." He looked towards the conspicuous rubber ducky with glasses as he said that. _So that really was a surveillance unit of sorts._ Shirou thought to himself.

"You're already bringing me into the fold? Well, not like I mind. You'd force me into it anyway. But at least wait until I get my own Sekirei." Seo resigned himself to it lest suffer Takehito's demonic wrath.

"With that decided, I declare the formation of the Izumo Alliance!" Takehito declared cheerfully before switching gears and digging back into his food. "Well, not like we can do much anyway at the moment. Better for us to bolster our own forces while I finish my work over at MBI. So Kaoru-kun, go out and find your Sekirei!" He pointed his chopsticks at Seo while acting like a commander.

"Got it got it, I'll go out and see if I run into one." Seo said with a sigh, scarfing down the rest of his food and getting up to leave. "I got work to do but I can still wander around and hope I get some chance encounter." And with that, he was out the door, leaving the actual residents to finish their breakfast.

"So what are you two going to do today?" Takehito asked the Ashikabi/Sekirei pair as he began finishing his own meal.

"I was thinking of going into town and finding a part time job." Shirou replied. One of the times Zelretch had punted him to another dimension, because there was some difference in the flow of time, the magus ended up spending a couple of months there before getting found by Rin and brought back. And since it seemed like he wasn't going anywhere soon, he might as well make sure he could support himself. "Besides that, I might get some training in. I don't know what we're up against when it comes to the other Sekirei so I might as well get myself prepared."

"Ah, I'll go with you then. We can help each other train!" Uzume said cheerfully.

"Ah yes, now that I think about it, this is an unusual situation. The way it's all designed, the Sekirei fights while protecting their Ashikabi. They're much stronger than a normal human after all." Miya noted which reminded Shirou once again of the Grail War's Master/Servant system. "In this case however, the Ashikabi is capable of fighting alongside his Sekirei. This would open up some possibilities in battle."

"It appears Minaka-kun made a miscalculation then. There are no rules that the Ashikabi can't join the fight because he never thought one could stand a chance against a Sekirei." Takehito added on with a smirk. "Though before it starts, you two need to work on your teamwork. Getting in each other's way and then arguing with each other in the middle of a fight isn't exactly the best strategy after all." His smirk grew ever so slightly wider when he saw the pair in question look bashful about it. It couldn't be helped though. That was their first battle together and neither of them were all that used to working as part of a team. Shirou preferred to fight alone so he wouldn't drag others into the battle while Uzume simply didn't have much experience in a fight.

"If it's okay with you, I'd be happy to help by sparring with you two." Miya suggested. "I feel like the lack of practice has made me rusty so this also helps me." Despite Miya's playful smile, Uzume began to go pale in the face.

"Sure, that'll help if it's not too much trouble." Shirou replied, oblivious to his Sekirei's look of horror. To Shirou, it was a chance to reinforce his swordsmanship without relying too much on his magic. Using a traced Noble Phantasm was cool and all but they were a strain on his body if used too much. It didn't help that he had to rely more on his pitiful magic reserves since his left arm was mostly sealed. "I look forward to learning from you." Miya nodded with another smile before going off to do the dishes which prompted Uzume to snap out of it and whisper something into Shirou's ear.

"Shirou, what are you thinking!?" Uzume exclaimed while maintaining her hushed voice. "Miya is the strongest Sekirei out there. She'll decimate us!"

"I think you're exaggerating… And besides, it'll only be a sparring match, not a fight to the death." Shirou said with a nervous chuckle.

"There have been rumors circulating about her as the strongest Sekirei among us lower numbers and the stuff I've heard is insane. I remember one where she supposedly cut down a battleship with just the shockwave of her sword slash!" Uzume tried to drive the point home that this was a bad idea.

"Now that one I'm sure is an exaggeration." Shirou said before being interrupted.

"Actually, that one is true. I saw it myself through footage. It was from a long distance too." Takehito confirmed Uzume's fears. It also made Shirou raise an eyebrow out of surprise. If that was true, Miya at least could match a Servant, maybe even Saber if one didn't count the usage of Noble Phantasms. "But I wouldn't worry about it too much. She can hold back her powers enough to not kill you…..maybe." He said with a laugh, trying to play it off as a joke though it didn't comfort Uzume at all.

"In a way then, that makes it all the more better. We'll get stronger training under Miya than if we were to just train on our own right?" Shirou said in an attempt to convince her that it would be a positive endeavor to which Uzume nodded albeit reluctantly. _Also, anything that sets me further apart from that asshole is a win in my book._ The red head normally used Archer's combat style because it was effective but he felt that if he just stuck with the path laid out in front of him, he'd end up the same as his future self. He had to make it his own.

"Glad to see you two are up for it." Miya said cheerfully, coming back from the kitchen. In her hands was a bokken or wooden katana. "Now then, let's work off breakfast with a nice spar."

"Don't go easy on me now." Shirou said as he traced Kanshou and Bakuya with their blades altered to be dull. He got up and followed Miya to the yard out back. Takehito followed suit, wanting to see the battle capabilities of their new residents first hand. Uzume was the last to get up. With Shirou's back turned to her, she now displayed a worried expression as she remembered the darkened expression that was on Shirou's face. It was only for a moment, but their bond clearly conveyed his feelings of regret and sadness, even some anger.

 _Shirou….I don't know what happened that made you make that face and I hope in the future that you'll tell me what troubles you. But as your Sekirei, I'll stay by your side and make sure you don't have any more reason to feel that way._ Strengthening her resolve, Uzume grabbed her veil and followed after her Ashikabi.

 **Yay! I'm finally done with this chapter and it only took like 3-4 months. Sorry again for the wait and sorry that this probably felt more like an exposition chapter. Doesn't seem like it's worth the wait eh? As I said, I do plan on continuing this fanfic. I just need to figure out a more regular writing schedule, something that'll be annoying to figure out due to both work and college. It doesn't really help that I'm starting another story for another of Alex's contests. I will make it this time! So for this next month, I will be more focused on that entry than this fanfic but I will work on the next chapter inbetween writing for that one. I repeat, I am** _ **not**_ **abandoning this fanfic.**

 **Well then, please review or pm me to let me know how I can improve this fanfic outside of the pacing issues that I am already aware of or suggestions. Until next time! Thank you again for your support!**


End file.
